Cloth take-up mechanism for looms



March 9, 1948. J. M. TUTE N CLOTH TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOfi LooMs' Filed March 21, 1947 I 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. JAMES M TU'TEN AGENT March 9,- 1948. J. M. TUTEN CLOTH TAKE-UP MECHANISM Fox Looms 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEVTOR. JAMEsMI TUTEN Filed March 21, 1947 AGENT Patented Mar. 9, 1948 CLOTH TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR LOOMS James M. Tuten, Greenville, S. 0., assignor to Hopedale, Mass., a corpo- Draper Corporation, ration of Maine Application March 21, 1947, Serial No. 736,238

Claims. (Cl. 139-308) This invention relates to cloth take-up mechanisms for looms, and more particularly to improved means for guiding and actuating the mechanism which supports the cloth roll of such mechanisms.

In a commonly used form of 100m the cloth is drawnfrom the weaving line by a positively driven take-up roll and is wound upon a cloth roll which is rotated through frictional contact a with the take-up roll at the bottom of the latter.

The cloth roll is supported at its ends in saddles formed in the upper ends of gear rack members which are stressed upwardly to keep the cloth roll in contact with the take-up roll. The gear rack members are supported and guided for up and down movement by guideways formed in respective upright stands mounted on a; front girt of the loom. The gear racks are stressed to raise the cloth roll into contact with the take-up roll through the action of pinions meshing with the racks and secured on a shaft carried in bearings formed in the upright stands, which shaft is placed under proper torsional stress by adjustable mechanism including a torsion spring. The arrangement is such that as the cloth is wound on the cloth roll and the cloth mass increases in diameter the racks are forced downwardly, rotating the pinions and shaft, and further tensioning the torsion spring. As commonly constructed each upright stand has formed thereon a gear rack guide lug for guiding the lower portion of the gear rack and for maintaining the rack in mesh with its respective pinion.

Due to constant vibration of the loom during Weaving and to other causes, the pinion and gear rack teeth are subject to relatively rapid wear, as is the gear rack guide lug. Such Wear has necessitated frequent replacement of the affected parts, and is the source of considerable expense due to defective operation caused by faulty meshing of the racks and pinions and to the consequent lost loom operating time. Efforts have been made to'overcome the troubles mentioned, and have included forming the rack with unusually long teeth, the application of shims to the guide lug to force the gear rack into engagement with its pinion, and the application to the stand of an adjustable guide lug. Neither of these solutions has proved to be wholly satisfactory. Increasing the rack tooth length required the employment of shims or the like on the guide lug, which forced the rack out of proper alignment with its guideways. The same defective action resulted from employment of an adjustable rack guide lug.

With the aforementioned defectsof prior clothtake-up mechanisms in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cloth take-up mechanism'of the type above described including means permitting adjustment of both the rack guide lug and the rack pinion toward and away from the gear rack, whereby wear ofthose parts may be compensated without moving the gear rack out of alignment with its guideways. It is another object of the invention to provide a cloth roll stand unit including a stand, a pinion shaft bearing, a rack guide lug, and means common to those three elements adjustably securing the pinion shaft bearing and rack guide lug to the stand. Another object of the invention is to provide general improvements in cloth takeup mechanisms of the type mentioned.

The above objects, and other objects which shall appear hereinafter, are attained by structure according to the present invention. One preferred embodiment of such structure illustrating the invention is fully disclosed in the following specification considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein p Fig. 1 is a front view in elevation of a loom with parts removed, and equipped with structure according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is an isometric view of certain structure shown in Fig. 1 and showing in detail the relationship of certain parts of said structure;

Fig. 3 is a partial sectional view in elevation of structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as viewed from between the loomsides Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows; and

Fig. 5 is a view of parts according to themvention arranged in exploded relationship;

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to Fig. 1, there are shown two loomsides 10, II, which are interconnected by breastbeam l2 and a front girt l3 to form a portion of a loom frame. Journaled in bearings (not shown) carried by the breast beam, and disposed to the rear of and below the breast beam, is a take'up roll M. The take-up roll is arranged to be positively driven by gearing (not shown) to draw the cloth forwardly from the weaving line and transfer it to a cloth roll [5. The cloth roll comprises a shaft I 6 seated at its ends in saddles formed in the upper ends of gear racks I6,'l1 Which are guided for up and down movements in respective upright stands I 8, I 9. The stands are fixedly mounted on and secured to front girt l3 by suitable means as by bolts. Disposed transby suitable means, as'by'a collar. The: spring is tensioned, to .cause the mentioned rotation .by. having its other end secured to a worm wheel .23

loosely mounted and guided on shaft 20, which worm wheel meshes with a worm, 24, mounted in a gear case 25 and adapted to "be rotated "by an articulated crank 2'5. .Theiarrangement-of' the parts is such that when worm'M is: rotated in the proper direction, worm wheel 23 rotates to tension spring 2|, which, when sufliciently tensioned, rotates shaft and through the pinelements are individually adjustable forwardly and rearwardly on the stand l9. Thus shaft 20 and pinion 30 may be adjusted into proper meshing engagement with rack l1, guide lug 34 moved into guiding engagement with the rack, and bolt 39 tightened, insuring proper meshing of the gearing without moving the gear rack out of proper alignmentwith the guideway 21 in stand IS. The teeth. of the gear rack maybe formed of unusual length so when they are worn pinion 30 .m'ay be moved closer to the rack to compensate the wear. As guide lug 34 wears it may occasionally be adjusted into snug engagement with the -rack. Bearing 3! may optionally be provided 'mount the bearing on stand l9.

ions on the shaft elevates the gear racks to; raise i the cloth roll into engagement with the take-up roll. The hereinabove enumerated structure generally, and its arrangementand operation, are well known to those skilled in the art to which the present invention is directed, and need nofurther explanation. The two upright stands l8, l9, and the structures closely associ ated -therewith, are of similar construction but oi -generally opposite hand atthe opposite sides of thelloom. The-pinionsfixedlycarried onshalt 2il maybe of identical construction. Heretofore each-end of shaft 2I-has been supported for rotation in a bearing hole'formed in a portion of theradjacentstand. vAs a consequence the axisor the pinionswas fixed and better meshing of wornpinions and'worn gear racks could. be obtained only by forcing the gear racks toward respective pinions and outof"natural .-alignment with the guideways formed inthe respective stands. According to the invention-means are provided which permit moving the pinions toward the respective gear. racks; and which have other novel features -.as:will.behereinaiter pointed out.

In view of thezsimilarity of thestructures comprising the-stands, racks 'andpinions, one of which structures is at each-end ofspring shaft'20, only that one of the structures at the' left'hand side. ofthe loom will be-described in detail. It should: be kept in mind that a similar structure of generally opposite handris. located at the opposite, side-of the loom. as illustrated inF-ig. 1.

-Referring now to Figs.;-2, 3 and 4, stand 19 is formed with a generally upwardly-extending slotlikeopeningfil bounded by offset-separated portions 28, 29.- This opening acts as-a' guideway for gear rack I! as may be conventional. Gear rack l.|- is.. arranged for meshing engagementrwithpinion 3.0:fixedlysecuredto spring-shaft 20 in any conventional manner, as by settscrews. (See Figs. 3 and-,4-.) In -attaining the objects of: the inventiorr. shait- 20; is journaledin. an adjustable bearing 43]. The bearing comprises an integral mounting. flange 32 provided with elongate holes 3-3" (Fig.5) fOI'fifDlllPOSG to be explained more f-ullyhereinaiter. Further, there is provided a replaceable andadjustable gear rack' guide lug, 34, having an elongate hole :35 therein and: an ofisetrack guiding armBfi. Stand 1-9 is provided with=tworholes 31', as, spaced as areholes 33 in bearing 31; for the reception of bolts 39,- 40, Bolt 39 and itsassociatedwasher and nut form means common to the stand, the'guide lug and the bearing, :ior securing thelatter two parts to the stand. I-n v-iewof the=elongatenature of hole 35 in: lug 3ll and of holes 33 in bearing 3!, those two with a. lubricant-well 4| and plug 42; and a second bolt. ltiis preferably passed through holes .33 and..33 and secured with a nut to more rigidly Since similar adjustable structures are provided at the two stands I8, l9, it is evident that both pinions (that atstand [8 being not shown) may be adjusted to properly mesh-with a respective rack, and that each rack. may be maintained in meshing engagement with a respectivepinionand yet be retained in proper alignment with the respectivegu'ideway by action of an. associated guide lug; and that-adjustment whenever dictatedby wearing of the parts will maintainv these parts in their correct. relationships, each to the other. Thus the bending. and/cramping of the racks in their guideways and other defects of the above mentioned prior art structures andexpedients are avoided.

Having described a preferred embodiment'of the invention it will .be evident that. changes and modificationswithinthe true scope of the inventicn will. occur to those skilled in the art, and what Iclaim and wish to secure by Letters Patent. is: a

1. In a cloth take-up mechanism for looms, a pair of generally upright stands, an individual gear rack for and slidably mounted in guideways in each stand and supporting a respective end of thecloth roll, a shaft extending generally between the stands, a pair of pinions on said shaft each at a respective gear rack, means to rotate said shaft, and individual unitary adjustable meansat each of said stands acting to support said shaft and to adjustably position each of said pinions in engagement with a respective one of said racks and positioning said racks in alignment with respective ones of said guideways.

2. In-a cloth take-up mechanism for looms, a cloth roll, an individual gear rack for and at each end of the cloth roll and arranged to support the latter, an individual stationary stand at and guiding'each respective rack, a shaft extending transversely of the stands, pinions on said shaft each geared witha respective one of said racks, individual adjustable bearing means for and-at each-end of said shaft, an individual adjustable guide for each of said racks, common means at each of said stands adjustably securing a respective rack guide and a respective bearing meanstoarespective stand to position said pinions each in proper engagement with a respective rack and to position-said" racks with respect to said stands, and. means to rotate said shaft.

3. In acloth take-up mechanism for looms, a pair of spaced-apart generally upright stands each provided with a generally upwardly extending guideway; an individual gear rack for and mounted in-each guideway; a cloth roll extending between said upright stands and supported by said rackspa shaft disposed transversely of said stands and extending generally therebetween;

pinions fixedly mounted on said shaft one for each gear rack; an individual bearing for and ,at each end of said shaft; an individual adjustable rack guide for each rack; and means at each of said stands common to a respective rack guide, stand, and bearing adjustably securing the respective rack guide and bearing to the stand and maintaining the respective pinion properly engaged with its rack and the respective rack properly aligned with its guideway; and means including a torsion spring for yieldingly rotating said shaft to raise said racks and cloth roll.

4. A cloth roll stand unit for a cloth take-up mechanism for looms, said unit comprising a cloth roll stand. a spring shaft bearing constructed and arranged to be adjustably secured on one side of said stand, a gear rack guide constructed and arranged to be adjustably mounted and stand to adjustably on another side of said stand, and means common to and passing through said bearing, uide secure said bearing and said guide to said stand.

5. A cloth roll stand unit for looms, comprising, in combination: a generally upright stand 

